Even without limiting it to “top schools”, how commonly are TAs used as lead instructors of large lectures?
Certainly, there are schools with large lectures. There are schools with TAs being subordinate instructors leading discussions and labs associated with faculty led large lectures. There are schools with TAs leading certain types of classes organized in numerous small sections (e.g. low level English composition and foreign language). But TAs leading large lectures seems extremely rare or mythical, despite it being a common criticism about non-LAC schools on these forums.
If a state uni offers graduate degrees in English, you should expect that Freshman Composition will be taught by a TA. Some of them are terrible, and some of them are better than any tenured professor would be.
Here is the link, but you need a subscription. There are 31 schools in the National University rankings and 18 more LAC rankings with a 6 year graduation rate of 90% or higher.
TAs don’t have to lead large lectures to be problematic. I had profs for lecture and TAs for section in quite a few classes at a large research university, but the TA was key. They were supposed to explain and help with homework issues, give quizzes and grade them, and basically sub for the prof having office hours because one prof couldn’t handle a couple hundred students peppering them with questions. A bad TA was the kiss of death. Not saying which Ivies have TAs – but saying that TAs “only” leading sections is still a problem.
@sylvan8798 I understood the reference to sections etc. to be an attempt to clarify the role of TAs at any university (including Harvard etc).
T&R (teaching and research a/k/a tenure-track) faculty, teach lectures in intro and often intermediate levels. Those large lecture classes are supplemented by smaller group discussion sections, usually 15-25 students, where TAs (Ph.D. candidates in the field, at that university) lead the discussion, grade homework and midterms, and hold their own office hours. As TAs get close to entering the job market as faculty themselves (say, years 5-6 of a 6 year Ph.D. program, not years 1-4), they may sometimes teach smaller seminar classes in their area of expertise.
My spouse has TAs at his research university, and he gives them careful instruction about grading etc. Students are always free to meet with him, as well as the TAs about the class, papers, exams etc.
^I was teaching lectures of remedial math and precalculus when I was still working on my Master’s degree (abt). Once I had my MA, I adjuncted at the university and at another college. When I was working on my PhD, I taught a course General Physics III at the university. Really, once you are at master’s level, you are qualified to teach undergrads.
I also worked as a TA during much of these efforts.
@sylvan – I didn’t mean to sound like grad students aren’t qualified to teach – but I know parents can get agitated about the whole TA thing.
As my kid is a Social Sciences/Humanities major, and that is my spouse’s area as well, I should qualify my remarks to say that I’m not as familiar with teaching practices in the sciences. For what it’s worth, after persevering through the gen eds at UW for 4 semesters of science, my kid has always had T&R faculty teach his intro level science classes, with TAs doing the discussion/labs.
@ixnaybob You are right that upper classmen (or women ) are sometimes paid to be available, assist, and provide guidance to students in lower level classes at Ivies. The key is that that support is in addition to the professor’s office hours, not instead of the professor’s office hours. For basic questions, students may prefer to go to these students as a start point, but the professor is also available to them.
@Much2learn , I hope you know that I wasn’t in any sense accusing the professors of shirking their obligations. They have been noteworthy in their availability, although DS has often mentioned that he’s shocked at how seldom kids avail themselves of the opportunity. Perhaps they are more comfortable talking to other students, as you suggest.
Btw, I’m not sure that his official title is TA. I made the assumption because he will sometimes text: “I’m TAing tonight.”
@IxnayBob Yes, I understood that. I mentioned it because earlier in the tread someone mentioned a prof at their school using TAs to attend the Professors office hours for him. I wanted people to know that what you are mentioning is an entirely different situation because this is extra support not in place of the Professors office hours.
Using underclassmen to provide extra support is great. Who could be against additional resources?
IxnayBob – I had a position as a “TA” at my LAC – we basically led optional, evening discussion groups about the material. We j were called TAs, but basically were senior mentors for freshman in entry level intro courses for our major.
My daughter TA’d two different stats classes at her LAC when she was an undergrad there. Not only is it common, It’s no different from what Harvard is doing. Those “TAs” are not grading or teaching. They run * supplementary * office hours and are there as resources. If there’s any criticism to be made it’s that there are too many people taking certain intro classes and too few people signing up to be TAs/CAs/peer mentors/call it what you will in those classes.
) are sometimes paid to be available, assist, and provide guidance to students in lower level classes at Ivies. The key is that that support is in addition to the professor’s office hours, not instead of the professor’s office hours. For basic questions, students may prefer to go to these students as a start point, but the professor is also available to them.